Fallout England
by Sargent Penny
Summary: Penny's story takes us to England 300 years after the bombs fell. Penny is the only woman in the Kings army, just returning to active duty, but her reason for leaving is coming back to haunt her, seeming stronger now, and threatening her chances at staying. This will be very lore unfriendly by the end. All criticisms welcome. Artwork credit goes to flames and ash on instagram.
1. Prologue

War, war never changes.

On October 23, 2077 the world ended in fire, just as so many had thought it would, even before man had the ability to tame nuclear fire, the many peoples of the world believed that fire would consume all, because war; war never changes.

In the years before the Great war, the days of nations in Europe were over, a more and more isolationist America left them so desperate for resources, they were formed into a single state, Known as The European Commonwealth.

From here the resource wars began, as a united European army invaded the middle east and started to burn through the oil as they fought for it. This was the hold that killed Europe first. Because War never changes.

After the middle east was sucked dry and the USA refused to help, Europe started to chock, but the Commonwealth held its power until the 23 of October 2077.

But that was not the end of mankind.

It has been three hundred years since the bombs fell, and now radioactive creatures stalk the barren lands. There are now immortals walking the scared lands, Roaches the size of dogs, and men killing each other for the scraps.

Because war, war never changes.


	2. Chapter 1

Penny Smith Chapter 1

A woman found herself naked, save for the straps holding her in place. She lay on an uneven block standing in the centre of a dark room, the only light coming through the doorway.

She struggled with her straps as her mind raced backward, unable to remember anything beyond fear of the men who caught her.

"Oh look, she's awake," came a feminine voice, with an accent that could not be placed, from above the tied woman's head, she looked only to see the form of the woman was invisible in the darkness, the voice came again moving now, "yes, yes, very much awake." The woman on the table followed the voice, the person using it made no other sound as she moved.

Another spoke up just to her left, "only any good if she can see the point, which she never will" she spoke with a light American accent. "Oh, and she can hear us how very unusual."

"Shut up," said the first voice irritated.

The woman on the table was staring daggers at the space that the voice occupied, the voice moved toward the foot of the table, "such a silly little girl." The woman on the table started ignoring them as best she could, only paying attention to their location.

_Name, my name. _Searching she found nothing beyond being captured, unable to jump the gap in her fractured mind. "Anything? Just something, please!"Starting to beg now, repeating this over and over, "please, please, ple…, Penny! My name is Penny."

"Oh, very good," came the American voice dripping in condescension, "the idiot has remembered her name."

The first gap was the hardest, Penny soon found the rest of her life falling in around her, and this scared her even more, "No I escaped you, I left here, didn't I?" She tried to shout, but the words would only come as a trembling whisper.

The voices move to the foot of the table, chanting in unison "no you did not, for he has come and brought you home." Over and over, until they stood in the light of the door way, under her heaving chest, revealing that neither had a body.

Penny screamed in sudden panic, slamming her head against the table, repeatedly, and thrashing against her bonds, causing blood to well up against her wrists and ankles.

The American laughed, "Silly girl, thought us your guards, did you?" The voice seemed keep to her smirk, continuing condescendingly, "be thankful you have thin lips and big green eyes."

The other, her accent seemed less defined, as if from everywhere and nowhere, said "wait what happens to us if she smashes her head open." The voice ran the length of the table as if to cushion the blows with non-existent hands, "we need her to live."

"Why, we are not dependent upon her." She stopped herself, listening closely. And then came the second thump, much clearer this time, the last door had been opened by Penny's jailer. Cackling like a witch the American continued, "He comes, he comes, at last to finish what he started." The voice appeared in her ear, "and you won't stop him this time." She seemed to vanish after that.

The foot falls were those of someone confident, and used to being thanked for their demands, and were getting awfully loud now.

"I am so sorry," the kindly voice whispered, "there is just nothing I can do. But I shall stay none the less." She seemed so full of genuine concern, her outburst of self-preservation earlier a desperate attempt to gain the Americans help.

"Thank you" was all Penny could manage through her trembling lips.

The gate in the doorway shook as the silhouetted man fitted the key and steeped through, "And finally she has learned her place," in an almost cheerful way. The man wore onyx robes, that covered his face in the dim light.

He walked in beside Penny, looking over her naked form, she was a rather pretty thing, with good cheek bones, and a small delicate chin. Her frame was girly, but she lacked most of the feminine curves men lusted after, with small breasts and layering her stomach with muscle, before she joined the military, she probably would have looked half starved constantly. She had very few scars, all from her service, The man in the dark robes intended to fix that.

He held his hands over her, shaking them up the length of her body, as if preforming a ritual, they were the hands of an old man, but Penny knew they were not the wizened things most people would imagine, she had been at the mercy of those hands before. Upon reaching her neck they seized it with a speed normally reserved for an eagles' claws, dragging her up to meet this his face, still shadowed by the robes. "Grovelling at the feet of something so much greater than you could ever dream! Now," He spat it at her with fervent anger, and slammed her head against the table. "Say. It. Again."

She considered it, much to her shame, she did. She could feel blood matting her hair and she knew that that was him holding back, if he wanted to, he would smash her head like a bag of so much pulp. Only that sweet voice stopped her, "Please don't give it to him, please."

"I got out befo-," he slapped her leaving several teeth dislodged.

"You did not escape," he paused for a long moment to pull down his hood revealing dark, ratty, mid-length hair, matted as it was, with dirt and blood, the extremes of which kissed the nape of his neck. The hood also hid his visage, it was a face that must once have been handsome before the years, battles and his practices had taken their toll, with a strong jaw, striking cheek bones and an intellectual forehead, that had all fallen away now to wrinkles, scars and stranger injuries. Strangest of all was something best described as a burn on the left side of his chin along his jaw, though the melted skin was broken into three large, hard, dark orange, almost black, plates, and many more smaller ones. The gaps left between the plates were a bright red, that oft times seemed to steam.

He selected a scalpel and tested by opening his left index finger from base to tip, mumbling something to himself. He cleaned the blade on this tongue as he walked over to penny and started using the blood to draw plans over her, starting with her face. "Your Commander, no, do not interrupt, freed you last time. Walnut wasn't it?"

"Waters." Penny spat back at him.

"Well, it matters not." He said calmly before burying the scalpel through a dot of his blood on Penny's shoulder, causing her to writhed in agony, mouth agape and unable to scream.

Soon after the robed man leant in and licked the wound, tasting her blood, and reciting something quietly to himself.

As he did this, Penny smelt the filth in the man's hair, most noticeable of which was the blood, though disturbingly to her, Penny could not be sure if it was his or his victims. Restraining her gag reflex, just to deny him the pleasure of watching her squirm whenever she could. She focused on that revolting main, Penny noticed a slight yellow in some parts of the hair, mostly close to the roots.

As he raised himself up once again after sucking what seemed an unnecessary amount of blood and finishing his incoherent prayer the only thing Penny made out was, "yes, that will do."

After that Penny simply let his words wash over her, focusing her attention on how to escape, mostly consisting of lightly pulling on her bindings, so as not to draw the suspicion of her prosecutor.

"Your Commander was killed earlier today along with the rest of your fighting men, provided that they would not surrender to the glory before them, we are not animals." It was said with almost a smile on the man's lips.

He stopped marking her, wiping his bloody finger in her hair and saying, "not enough there, not even to just start with." The small part of Penny's mind paying him attention nearly made her laugh at that, but it died before reaching her throat, as the scalpel was again inserted into her shoulder. It hurt less this time, but it still stopped Penny's struggles.

Unable to struggle, Penny directed her thought to the blood covering her face, neck and shoulders, all in intricate patterns, each one seeming too precise to be drawn with a finger.

"Fuck you, you cunt!" Penny shouted at the robed figure as he dug the blade deeper in to her shoulder, causing the blood to flow effortlessly and seemingly without end.

"Go back to being silent, disgraceful creature," was all the robed man cared to say to Penny. Instead dipping his fingers into her blood and continuing to make his marks on her body. He started marking her chest now, with those strange marks, and he appeared to take no special enjoyment from this marking this area. Penny had never thought herself well endowed, but most men would love to have that kind of access, and now her torturer seemed to treat it like a chore. Penny was almost offended, until she was snapped back to awareness by a loud chuckling, though whose she was not certain.

The man kept marking her, using her shoulder as an inkwell causing Penny to restrain a hiss every time. Penny took greater notice as the robed man drew on her breasts, as it was the first good look she had of what he was doing to her. He would run his bloody fingers over an area, leaving the thick red trail behind. As his finger continued, the lines grew thinner, as the excess seemed to drip away leaving only the thin line that was originally traced.

And Penny kept pulling on her straps, shifting left and right to throw off his work, she was occasionally rewarded with pain, mostly a simple punch, though sometimes he would dig his fingers into her wound, rather than just taking the blood off the top, and Penny would scream, unable to not let him win.

As he worked his way lower again he seemed to take grater pleasure in marking her body. He seemed to enjoy his time on her stomach most.

Penny felt a him run a band over her ankle just below the restraint, talking to her as he worked, none of which she heard. "Let's make a start with the blade." And Penny heard that part, and she struggled against the restraints harder and harder again, shaking violently from side to side, valiantly trying to snap the leather around her or the chains holding her to the stone, despite the torrent of blood, where leather met skin.

The man grabbed Penny by her jaw, hard enough that there were tears in her eyes, and pointing the scalpel blade at her, the black cloaked man told Penny, "Do you want to lose an eye?" He let go and Penny span away as far as the bindings would allow, until a strong hand slapped her, not as hard as before but enough to stun her and grab Penny's jaw again. "Frankly I would not care," the blade still centimetres from her, "but we will need both your eyes to work when we are done with you." Penny still looked at him defiantly. "So. Stop. Moving!" each word was punctuated with another slap harder than the one previous.

Penny fell limp, her head lolling onto its right side, not unable to move, just unwilling to, tears flowing onto the plinth she was chained to. "Good, good" came the condescending tones of the immaterial voice. "She will break easily."

Penny was grabbed by the face again and forced to look at the man, his eyes were still blank to her, and she tried to stare back, rattling her chains once again, though her strength had left her limbs. "Oh for…" not bother to curse at her, the torturer just started repeating, "Zo jhiqq htij ytiqx ew hto Vexj unx Vexxojj uzego, Puxup Winojh. Ceak mefokj wqef wkep cea, inhe hto ivnekunh, htkeavt po, Pijhkojj, unx ji I htunr cea."

Slowly as he continued, Penny's limbs stopped listening to her, slowing and freezing in place. The same thing happened to her head, more slowly, but that only made the numbness seem more inevitable. When it was complete the preparation, as the man inflicting it upon her called it, continued accompanied by these words,

"So, as I said earlier, your home is gone, everyone there is dead or surrendered," he placed the blade in the outer corner of Penny's left eye, she could feel it biting into her flesh already, "there is no one coming to the rescue this time." And started cutting along the blood marks. "Qoh hto jmikihj ew htejo fte yupo zoweko yepo uvuin…"

"Thank you," was the last thing Penny heard before oblivion claimed her.

Penny woke bolt upright in a cold sweat, with a heaving chest and the sound of screaming in her ears, but it was far away, as if the bastard child of a banshee and a madman had been locked in a distant room.

Penny looked suspiciously around the room, drawing her leg close to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her it, only then seeing her compatriots lying in their cots. "Just a dream." She whispered to herself, her chin resting on her knee, "they did not get me again."

_I need to do something about this trauma I seem to have. _Penny had never felt guilty about this_, for fuck sake, I knew people whom were still bereaved about losing the world that was before the Ending War, well Ghouls from before the war,_ though Penny did her best to think of them as people, despite how they appear and them only living in the ring slum. So, Penny felt no guilt over still having nightmares, they just annoyed her at this point, terrified her whilst they happened, but when she woke, and set herself down again, Penny was only annoyed.

Briefly looking around the room again, Penny noted the early hour, the green light of the single stained window in the far wall, had not passed to the wall behind Penny's corner bunk, putting it a little after dawn. Suddenly feeling the exhaustion, almost as if all those struggles against the chains had been real. Putting it down to a poor night's sleep, Penny through herself down onto her cot again, and into an uncomfortable grating texture against the skin just below her right ear. "Fuck," she muttered, as she lifted herself on to her elbows and looked down, seeing the blood on her pillow. Fear turned to annoyance as she reached to her left cheek, just below the top of the cut near Penny's eye. Drawing it back, her hand came away wet and red. _That dammed scar has still not healed then._

She dragged herself out of her cot and moved toward the wash bucket, after cleaning away the blood, she examined the scar in the mirror above, it was a long cut, curling from the corner of her right eye, along her cheek, and cutting through her upper lip. It was clean, no dirt or sign of infection, yet it still bled on occasion. _It should have cleared up months ago. _She pushed the edges of the cut together, holding them there for a few minutes, covering her hands in blood as the cut wept._ At least it has scabbed up for now. _

Looking at the scar Penny thought back to the man that had given it to her, the same man haunting her dreams, _Fuck that wanker, I may not even know your name, but one day I will find you and kill you, you scarred son of a whore._

_ I will check in with the doc in the morning. See if he has come up with anything_ _yet. _Penny thought as she turned back to her cot again. The sun light was already near the corner, _sleep will evade me until I needed to wake anyway,_ Penny thought as she decided to stay up and see the doc now, as screams in her ears fading even more into the background.

Penny Smith had enough time to check with Doctor Greene, before she needed to start work. She was on middle shift today, but she would report in early. It was not really allowed, but no one cared if it meant they had an extra gun on the wall. Penny only did it to avoid Mark, _thinks he can get in my pants just because I am childless. Prick. _Penny thought with distain toward the man.

The walk to Dr Greene's was short, it was seen as a requirement that the doctor be close to those most likely to be in need of care, which put him opposite the military barracks.

Kings still slept as Penny crossed to the doc's house, most people did not rise until an houre after dawn, and so she knocked quietly on the door. DR Greene, ever the exception was up, dressed, and appeared to be waiting by the door, such was the promptness of it swing open, "come in, and follow me to my office." Penny obliged him.

The doc's office had the look of a lavish house, a long sofa, a large arm chair for him and an ornate writing desk, stained with the ink of a dozen different ideas every day. The doctor himself seemed more like a dark and twisted joke, given his profession, that silly beaked mask, the waxed black leather covering the rest of his body and the blade at his hip; though it was not a sword, he was a common man, it was a large blade. Penny could not help noticing the blood on his gloves despite their dark colour.

"Hello Doctor Greene, I'm here…"

"Here about that cut again, I assume," forgoing the patient actually explaining the reason for their being there as was a usual occurrence at his office. "Yes, well, I simply don't know. I checked the medical books, there was nothing in them. I went to the holy books and found precious little information about such a condition and even less that links to something in your history."

"Is there anything you can suggest?"

"Aside from keeping it clean and stitching you up again, no."

This would be the third time, the twine seemed to just rot away, the wound would seem to seal properly, then fall apart again, but even that was slower now, and it scarcely held together for more than a few days. "Sure, can't hurt right?" Penny said with a heavy sigh.

As she sat down in the chair and faced her cheek to the doctor, he asked her "I can not help but notice that at this seems to be happing more and more often, I know that these bleedings used to match up with." He paused suddenly flustered, searching for the right word, "some of your other bodily functions."

Penny just sat before him, doing her best to look doe eyed and ignorant of his meaning. _If you are going to be this ridiculous, you will suffer for it_ Penny thought at him_. _For a doctor he could be unbelievably childish about some facts of biology.

"Some of the more… unique aspects of your biology, within the military, I mean." The doctor continued, stammering through his ill prepped dialogue.

"Oh, you mean my cycle," keeping up the bluff, "no, my timings have been consistent." Penny could feel the heat off the blood in the doctor's face.

"Yes, well, that was the last theory I've come across in the holy books, A curse from the remnants of the cult of Diathonees, it results in the thinning of blood, cuts will not heal, and bruises refuse to fade then the organs start destroying each other, upon which the remains are discharged, in waves through any wound or orifice, it is typically more effective against women, as some organs are dissolved first, and invariably the uterus is first to go.

"Are you sure there are no other symptoms, anything you might have missed?" He slipped and dug the needle into Penny's cheek.

"No, dam it! No. I have told you everything, and there is already nothing in the texts that matches the symptoms I have, so how can adding more to the list be helpful?" Penny snapped at him.

The doctor just continued, ignoring her pain and swearing, "your condition could be the result of several different afflictions, with different more commonly known afflictions. Okay Your done."

The sewing was poor, running only half the scar' s length, Penny considered a rebuke, for a second, before thinking better of it, _I am already on a sword edge after my medical suspension. _

Heading off to the armoury, Penny left Dr Greene's office, throwing a handful of caps into the donations bowl, to the disappointment of the King this currency had been taken up to help trade with the Paladins of the Brotherhood, as she went.

The armoury was on the other side of Kings from the barracks supposedly to stop one attack clearing them out, Penny just felt it was one of Gerald's' ways to annoy the troops that had not been fixed during the current Kings many refits.

The rest of the city was waking up now, the starting to street fill with builders, heading either to the newest grand project of the King or to fix an unsightly crack in the wall of some posh twat's lounge, both groups ignoring every poor sod who had a house on the edge of the slum, houses that were held together with string and adhesive at this point. Several women, probably the builder's wives, were starting the days washing as children ran about their ankles, strangely a few street cleaners were working their way down the road, an unusual sight outside of the central city.

Penny smelt the smoke of a few bakers' fires being lit, following the wood fire smoke, Penny made her way to the nearest market. There, the merchants were setting up, some already were calling out their wears, a scattered few early shoppers hopping to get the freshest ingredients for the chiefs in the inner city and even the beggars were already in position, the fighting for the lighter corners of the square already done.

One merchant in particular always caught Penny's eye, with a voice deeper than most, a darker shade of skin, and a strange style to his clothes, he was a foreigner, and his accent was strange and hard to decipher, but he was the only legal port of call, for the fun drugs of the east, in the city. The traders that brought them would only sell to him, the black market was supplied but those that stole from the traders, and just then it seemed truly idyllic.

She stopped at the edge of the market for a second, smiling and just watching the world go by. She knew where she would be heading next, it was the best reason for merchants in the upper middle class to get into the central city, not for the added protection or the marriage opportunities for their daughters, but so they would not have to pass it on their way to the big markets every day. The Ring Slum.

The richest live in the centre of the city, the poor and destitute live in The Ring Slum around that. The slum was a rough Patchwork fabric tents, with no stable structure larger than a single section of waist high wooden fencing. The crooked paths between the tents formed loose-knit, ever changing web of streets, impenetrable to an outsider if they went too far in, unless they stayed rigidly to the large roads, leading to the central city.

People will say; "the big markets are in the centre city." But most know the biggest market is The Ring Slum. It is a black market for anything you can want; drugs, weapons and whores being most common, prostitution is legal in Kings, but this kind, never should be, the girls are slaves in all but name, kept high beyond sanity when not in use and only brought down so they can be tormented by their clients. The aristocracy does know, about the depravity and the commonalty of violence, but policing the area, is an effort in futility, one resigned to history for now.

The stench was horrendous, and Penny was nearly tripped by limbs, of those too high to keep them in check, but it was the if she wanted to avoid Mark at the armoury, this was the way she had to take.

As she passed through Penny received several offers of work, jeers, and offers or somewhere to spend that night. She ignored them, it was only a few in her trip which was far fewer than was expected, _I guess the uniform even gets you respect here,_ Penny thought as she left the slum.

The armour was only a few streets away now and despite its size, the only ground floor entrance was at the end of an open topped ally. The ally was thin and long, and the slate grey walls were lined with small windows.

The walls of the armoury were not particularly high, only the height of the houses over again, but they were topped with meticulous crenellations and machicolations, and had a prefect arched Gatehouse at the bottom. Made more impressive by the stone masonry. Like every defensive wall in Kings, each wall was completely flat and vertical, despite being comprised of oddly cut rocks, the blocks were so perfectly aligned that not a sheet of paper could not slip between them, all without a drop of mortar. A lost art rediscovered, after the Ending War. Sometimes I wonder if the end of the world was worth it for, she thought marvelling at the wonder of the wall.

A procession of the Adamantine Guard started up the passageway, Penny stepped to the side of the narrow passage and fell to one knee, Penny left her head raised for a minute, the heavy thumps of King Art'hur's armour clad feet was easily discernible from the uniform sound of his guard. Propriety would have given Penny a little more time, but she had had no desire to risk her reinstatement.

The Guards walked four abreast in gleaming silver armour that, despite being unpowered, it looked as if it had already lasted an eternity and would do so again, without it's sheen growing dim.

The distant voices soon became clear, King Art'hur and Commander Waters as soon as she heard his voice Penny dropped her head to her knee. Penny had more respect for the Commander than she would dare admit, and more than she would ever have for Art'hur.

The Guard paid her no mind, but the entourage, of mostly female scribes, following jeered her with voices like knives, "Should you not be off getting… fucked, as I believe your ilk would put it." Penny let the words wash over her, _sometimes it sucks to be the only woman exempt from child birth_, "Look at the poor Childless, on her knee, just not in the correct manner." One of them reached out as if to pet her hair saying, "now, now I'm sure one day you will get what you truly want, even if you do not realise what that is yet." _Why so close to the King, a few feet more and I could have been on my way._

Commander Waters turned at the noise, and Penny caught her first sight of the man since her recovery leave had been finalised. She had forgotten just how small the man was, standing at best five-foot-tall, in his armoured boots. His arms were skinny, visibly so despite his armour, and his legs were more sinew than muscle. He had lost most of his hair and kept what was left as a light stubble on his scalp. Despite this the beard he had been ordered to grow appeared to have come in very well, save for one patch above the left side of his lip. Salt and pepper in colour, and thick on his chin, and covering his cheeks, and the gaunt look of his face. Noticing the kneeling form of Penny to the side, he excused himself from the king, "Yes, it is a drastic measure, and one I would not take if we had not exhausted every other option, your Grace, excuse me."

"Of course," came Art'hur Pendragon's reply, in his clear, precise tones.

Bringing the procession to a halt, Waters moved through the throng of people toward Penny, "move on and leave the Sargent alone." His voce lost its formal tone, becoming gruffer and that of Commander Walters. "Sargent Penny you're back on duty today? Steel Guard wasn't it?"

Penny rose from her kneeling position at the commander's subtle signal, barely twitching his finger, and cringing internally as she rose, knowing she could not look properly respectful as she did so. It was impossible, despite how much she respected him, to look respectful when standing easily four inches taller. "Sir, Yes Sir." Penny winced slightly as it seemed a loud bell ringing sounded in her ear.

"Good, but forget the wall, check out your normal weapons and report to platform three at mid shift, you're back on Iron Guard. Dismissed."

Penny was shocked into a brief silence, only now looking her at her commander directly, since his approach, looking at him closer now, she was reminded of the man, old before his time, with deep wrinkles, and deeper scars, standing most prominent among the many was one disfigurement that stared above his right eye, crossed through the bridge of his nose, fell down removing a large amount of the left nostril, and followed through into his lip that had not worked properly since.

After the moment of silence Penny said "Sir, Yes Sir," running the words together. She moved off a, leaving through the procession, glaring all the while at the one that tried to pet her. He just continued his conversation with the other members of the high society, seemingly unbothered.

After passing through the group, Penny walked the five-minute walk in three, so excited was she to be on a real detail after so long on the bench. She seen Freya standing in the opened shutter of the armoury, a smile gracing her normally demure lips, causing her violet eyes to sparkle against her silver hair.

"Where do you get your dye from?" Penny questioned, expecting her usual terse response to the accusation.

Her smile did not falter, and her demeanour still seemed up-beat, "I have told you many times that, I neither wear contacts nor dye my hair."

_Still calming that is the result of mutation._ It was possible, there were many instances of irregularly coloured eyes and hair, though she was the first with such a strange mix. "And I still refuse to believe you. Anyway," Penny Said cutting off any objection Freya might have, "I need my rifle back."

"Sure, just here," Freya said handing over a small semi-automatic pipe rifle, so named for it cobbled together out of a several rusted old pipes and a block of wood.

"No, no, no. My rifle, the plasma one." It was far from the only rifle of its type in the armoury, but it was only used by her.

"Not for wall duty."

"I am not on wall duty today, Miss Blythe, that was recently overturned in favour of Iron Guard duty."

"Not as far as I have been informed," Freya's good humour was not failing yet, but Penny knew it could not last. _Only one person could keep her in this kind of mood._

"Yeah, I ran into Commander Walters just now and he asked for me on full duty, so give me the gun."

"You know I cannot do that, not without a writ…"

Penny interrupted, "Freya, I am already on very thin ice, the why would I lie about this and get myself kicked out of the job," placing extra emphasis on that part. "Oh, and at best prison, but probably execution. Give me the gun."

"Penny stop getting angry," Freya made a small motion with her left hand.

"I am not angry, I just need to be outfitted adequately for my work." Penny trailed off slightly as she noticed the door to Freya's bedroom swung slightly open in the breeze, behind her.

Freya was the only armourer that lived on sight. How she reangled permission, no one was sure, it was something about not being able to afford rent in the citadel.

It was difficult to see through the slim gap between the door and wall, but there was a figure on the bed, mostly covered by a blanket, but one pale leg stuck out from beneath.

Penny raised both her hands displaying her palms to Freya, "Fine, I will sort this later." _All I do is flutter my eyelashes at Mark and I will get anything I want,_ Penny thought to herself. "Is Lezzie Liz back in town?"

"You know she does not appreciate that name. Why do you ask?"

"Nicknames aren't supposed to be liked," came the retort. "Because you are in a good mood."

"My partner is not the only think that keeps me in a good mood."

"To this extent, it is," Penny mentioned flatly. "Now stop avoiding the question."

"No," said Freya, and Penny almost believed her, disregarding the evidence of her eyes, knowing better that to actually think Freya was cheating.

"She will not appreciate you cheating, you know?" Penny told her with an almost scolding tone.

"What do you mean?" the question came slowly from the darkly coloured lips.

"Who is in your bed?" Freya started turning red, she looked to her bedroom door, not one to swear while on duty, she settled for mouthing several curses. Penny was not sure if they were for her, Freya, or the door. _All three is the safest bet. _"She was not due back for a few days?"

"Yes, she is back, the wind favoured them and the caravan arrive late last night. I just wanted a day alone with her is than too much to ask?"

"Hey, Liz is my friend, I would like to see her." Penny could see the dread in Freya eyes at the statement. "But everyone needs some time alone." Freya silently mouthed Penny a thank you, "I will not bother you further, your shift ends soon anyway. See y-" That was as far as Penny got, the obtrusive sound of a door opening behind her interrupting the farewell.

Penny turned on her heels toward the door and seen Commander Walters' unmistakeably short frame in the door way, she saluted, flat hand, palm forward, finger tips just touching her forehead. One of the few things of the military that survives over time is the salute, that and the correct pronunciation of lieutenant, surviving the formation of the super state, in which the United Kingdom, and by extension England, was a member, known as the European Commonwealth.

Freya knelt, as she was meant to, disappearing behind the counter, the rank of commander gave Walters the rights of a lord in the eyes of the law, but not the same respect a lord should receive. Despite this Freya had to kneel though, as Commander Walters was made a lord by the King, this was convenient, as Lord Pathnear needed to be replaced, for some indiscreet actions taken against the wishes of the crown.

Walters was awarded his title, Lord Eric Walters, Lord of the King's Military, Of the Steel and Iron Guards, Defender of the citadel of Kings and his king, for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty," as the King told it he had such fondness for plagiarism, in the rescue of the prisoners held in Azrak, Penny's rescue. Penny as his direct subordinate, was only required to fulfil what the army required, the palm out salute.

"At ease" commander Walters told then, causing Penny to drop her hand and Freya to rise to her feet, "Sargent Penny, you ran off before I could give you a writ of request," looking to Freya, he continued "give her what she has asked for, and is that a nurse?"

Freya and Penny both turned to look at Freya's door and seen Liz, dressed shabbily but not without regard to propriety. A white shirt pulled tight about the throat and waist, but loose around the chest, and a long white skirt, both with a number of suspicious red markings. Liz did not bother to kneel, she should have by virtue of entering a room with a conversing Lord, but as Commander Walters was not born a lord, there was enough leeway to allow her not to.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I did not think you would be back with us for a few days yet." Liz was clearly not listening to the commander, still in a dreamy daze, and so he turned his attention back to Freya and Penny, "let her know she is excused from the impregnation ceremony, she is going with your group Penny." He walked away, wishing to avoid the scene, he knew Elizabeth would cause if she found out whilst he was there.

"For fucks sake, I Just got her back." Freya said making several rude gestures, in quick succession, in the direction the commander had left. The couple did not like cursing, Liz never did it. But Freya would, if and only if, she felt someone was very deserving of it.

"That is the leader defence of the city you are doing that to. Not to mention, ultimately, your boss."

"So? He's still being a cock." Not dropping the last sign, shaking it for emphasis, for a few seconds.

"Penny wait there a moment," Liz asked as she strolled to the counter and immediately lent over it, pulling Freya over and snogged her until they were both out of breath, during which Penny felt deeply uncomfortable, trying desperately to find somewhere inconspicuous to look that was not at them. Once the kiss was broken, Liz turned to Penny, greeting her with a tight hug, "good to see you," she said, "it's been a while."

"Hi Liz, really great to see you too." Penny said, returning Liz's hug. "How was your trip?"

"Never mind that," Liz said in the motherly tone she used when dealing with a stubborn patent, "why has that not healed?" She asked feeling at the Scar on Penny's face.

"Ahh, that stings." Penny gently grabbed Liz's wrist and pulled her hand away "I don't know, I woke up bleeding today." Penny decided to edit out the bit about the Nightmare. "You seen any thing like it on your travels?"

"No, but I would not have noticed, we do not stay anywhere long enough for something like this to present itself. You were just at Dr Greene?"

"Yes." Both Freya and Liz scowled at Penny, "I know, I know. I needed it stitched up at least."

"Yeah, he even messed that up though." Freya said, "want to fix it?" she asked, tossing Liz some thread. "What theory is he peddling about it now?"

"Nothing really, something about a poison that does not even fit my symptoms."

"Fools are the ones that trust the word of an apothecary, there is precious little more that can be said of those who accept the narrative of that Witch Doctor." Liz said matter-of-factly, unspooling the thread.

"Which book did you pull that from?" Freya asked, Liz responded with a cold look as she threaded the needle.

Penny was slightly shorter, so she did not need to lean down, as Liz started sewing just below Penny's eye. "Why don't we just cauterize it?" Penny asked, the thought had been on her mind for a while now.

"No, not a chance, the scare would be permanent-"

"Well it already seems to be anyway," Penny said sullenly, irate at Liz seeming to care more about Penny's looks than her health.

"That would give you a lisp as least, and with something this close to your eye, I would probably cause irreparable damage or just blind it," Liz said, tutting as she worked. Penny flushed, feeling foolish for jumping to conclusions as she had. "Freya, you said; 'I Just got her back' what did you mean by that?" Liz asked, desperate to change the subject, as she pierced Penny's flesh for another stich.

"You are excused from the Impregnation Ceremony," Freya told her.

"Impregnation Ceremony," Liz snorted as she walked toward Penny and Freya, having only heard the last words of the commander's orders. "I suppose that is the only way they can live with themselves, hiding behind fancy words and lying about tying down a woman and letting a series of men rape her, if she has the audacity to not be pregnant. But that aside that does not explain what you meant by what you said."

"True, because you interrupted me, with your self-righteous speech." Freya said in a mildly annoyed tone.

"You cannot like it better than I, can you?" Liz asked suddenly concerned by what the answer might be.

"No, of course not, but sometimes it is just tiring hearing the complains without any real action from anyone."

"People learn to love the chains that bind them, some already have. We can't let that happen, even if only in speech."

Penny suddenly realised that Freya was childless, and had no pass like hers, curiosity got the better of her and Penny had to ask, "sorry to ask, but Freya why are you excused from having kids?"

"I thought you knew," Liz said first.

"No, just never thought about it I guess."

Freya grasped the tip of her silver hair and pulled it to the side, showing it clearly reflecting in the light beautifully. "Radioactive mutation, apparently Art'hur prefers people with 'lower risk genetics,'" she dropped her hair and smiled. "If every other woman is pregnant, then they will come for me, until then, I am in the clear."

"So, are you allowed to have kids at all?" Liz asked, surprised by the revelation.

"Yes, they just will not bring me in for a ceremony, when the have other, less risky options."

Penny, turning only her eyes, looked to Liz confused, "how did you not know this, was it not discussed?"

"I just did not want to look into the gift horse's mouth." Liz told Penny, focusing on her cheek.

Looking to get off the subject of childbirth, Freya asked "so, Liz, what have you seen on your travels?"

"Never mind that, what did you mean?"

"Oh yes, sorry. You are excused from 'The Ceremony,'" even that name earned a dirty look from Liz, but she held her tongue. "Because you have been put back on duty, Penny regiment."

"So, I am on the wall for a few hours," Liz's started to whisper after that, "I will be back in plenty of time for that…"

Freya went red, throwing an open hand at the pair of them, "Penny is right there," she hissed.

"So? We are all friends here, right?" Liz retorted finding nothing wrong with the conversation.

"Bugger you." That earned a laugh from Liz.

"So," Liz continued unabated, Penny pretending to be really interested in this to wind up Freya, "last night we…"

"Penny is on Iron Guard!" Freya shouted as fast as she could, looking more like a tato, than human.

Liz dropped her needle, "What, where?" there were tears in her eyes, her proper Queens English faltering back into the New Cockney, she was born with.

Penny interjected, "we don't know. We are to be on platform three at mid shift."

Liz walked back to Freya, "why me?"

"Commander Walters never said, I think it was just because you were the first nurse he seen." Freya told her partner.

Holding back tears, and her normal accent returned, Liz told Penny, "You are sewn up, keep it clean and let it heal this time." That comment earned a scowl from Penny, but Liz just turned to Freya and continued, "Give Penny, her weapons dear. Then we can have some more alone time."

Freya nodded, turning to the big weapon racks, and pulling down Penny's Plasma rifle, a .44 Magnum, with some spare ammo for both, and a couple high power hand grenades.

Penny put everything on, the guns in holsters, ammo in a pouch, and the grenades clipped on her belt. "Thank you," Penny said embracing Freya over the bench, "I will see you at mid shift," she said to Liz. She turned and left hearing soft sobs as she walked out. There were always tears when Liz left, but it seemed worse now, _for fuck sake she is not even a field medic,_ Penny thought as she walked under the portcullis.

Penny headed back to the garrison, on her way, as she passed by a market down a side street, she had the feeling that if she did not do something right now, she would never get to again. _And the market for it was is close._ So, Penny relented and allowed herself one of the few luxuries her meagre pay afforded her.

She stopped in to the butcher, he was a big man, with short hair and a long braded beard, both bright ginger, and speckled with pure snow. Possessing the muscle one would expect from someone hulling anima carcass around and cutting them up, he was an intimidating figure. Keeping his attention on the mutilated New Boar he called, "next," in a deep voice, that had been mistake for thunder to hear him tell it.

Nobody stepped forward so Penny did, "fifty grams of sliced pork, Thor."

He laughed hard, turning from his work. "Few people ever called me that, Tiny."

"I am not that short," Penny pouted, prompting another laugh. "And that is because you scare them."

"I do not," Penny just tilted her head at him as she stared at him, until he turnd back to his cutting. "Okay I do, but not intentionally. You are in luck today; the New Boar was just slaughtered this morning." He brought the meat over to the counter by her, "And, you earned a discount, 23 caps," He said wrapping the meat.

Penny paid him and left in search of Jennifer for a fresh loaf of bread. Her stall would usually move about, the guards trying to chase her off, She was the only ghoul with a stand in the city.

Penny spotted her in the closest corner, her dark green rotting skin easy to pick out at this distance. Her stall was quiet despite being the best baker ever as far as Penny was concerned, most of her business came from servants whose masters did not they shopped there. "Leave any parts in the dough?" Penny called as she approached.

Her voice was old and grating, like all ghouls, "Just some extra meat rations for you. What you want?"

"A few slices of the freshest," Penny told her.

The ghoul turned pulling the bread out of the oven with her bare hands, and immediately started slicing and wrapping it. _I really am in luck today,_ Penny thought as Jenifer told her the cost of 10 caps.

Bidding each other farewell Penny found the few other ingredients and returned to the garrison to indulge herself. Making her Breakfast of New Boar, tato and lettuce, made her grin in child like glee.

This was not the same as radstag stew, or the like, where food is just considered fuel, but it might as well taste nice when it is going down, this was pure gluttony, not something that is encouraged by the state, but Penny thought nothing of it given how the aristocracy acted.

After that Penny readied her armour and set off to platform three.


	3. Chapter 3

Some quick house keeping, no this isn't dead. I am just a lazy basterd. I am going to try and get a new chapter out evey one to two weeks. That's it, enjoy.

Penny Smith Chapter 2

"Please mind the gap," the tannoy system announced to Penny Smith and her compatriots, as the tube car pulled into the station. It excited and annoyed her in equal measure, and more than is reasonably understandable.

"Alright, you bunch of whiny little milk drinkers." Called the dominating voice of their commanding officer, abruptly interrupting several conversations and at least one card game. Penny sat up paying close attention now after sitting alone with her head against the wall all the way here. Her squad mates had been happy to see her, of course, giving her congratulations and a good-hearted piss taking when they saw her approach on the platform. But when they got into the car, they had given her space, so she could prepare for battle again.

The commander continued, "We've been sent to this ogre infested hell hole of a station to try and barter with the mental defectives at Shuke." He turned to the front of the car, directing these orders to the squad there; "Set up defensive points as we approach the castle. If this goes to hell you are to cover our retreat." He turned back, "The rest of you, gear up, you're with me."

Despite Commander Walter's advancing age and unimposing figure, he still inspired respect from his subordinates. There was no delay between the commands being given and their execution.

Penny was no exception. At the sound of the orders she was on her feet strapping on a holster, and checking her armour. She double checked that the plate over her chest was secured. If it came loose, she was done for. Penny pulled her revolver out next, loading the cylinder with five rounds, and leaving the hammer against the empty chamber. She holstered it on her right thigh.

Her standard grenade belt, holding two conventional explosives and one EMP device, went around her left hip. If things went as planned during the negotiations, she wouldn't need any. Penny silently wished for more, sliding a magazine into her belt pouch.

She tightened the ribbon that fastened her dark hair into a short pony tail at the base of her skull, and put on her combat helmet. Until her medical leave she had kept her hair little more than a buzz cut, as military regulations required. Now her hair kissed her back, and she was allowed to keep it, as long as it was securely tied back whilst on duty.

Finally, and much later than she had wanted, Penny picked up her rifle from her case, ensuring that both her sights were functional. Its heavy weight felt good in her hands, the bump on the back of the grip pressing sharply into her palm, the slight pull on the left side, the smell of ozone.

Holding it felt like giving a starving man an autumn feast.

Penny looked down the carriage and saw Elizabeth sitting there. She had changed since Penny had seen her last at the armory. Her bloody clothes had been replaced by a clean white blouse, a simple black skirt, trailing just past her knee, with a black cloak pulled tight about her throat. A stark contrast against the mottled greens and browns of the army fatigues.

Most people thought of her conservative dress as prudish. Most women in Kings wore dresses cut so low that their bosom was constantly threating to fall out. But Penny was certain Liz had her reasons, even if they were kept to herself.

No one else seemed to notice her there, slumped against the window, despondent. As they started to file out Penny stopped, putting her hand on the woman's shoulder, "Come on Liz, we've got to go." Penny said it as kindly as she could, but Liz still jumped at the contact.

"Yes, yes. You are right," she said seeming controlled and restricted, as if the words had to claw their way out of her throat before it passed her lips. Penny followed Liz's gaze to her lap, noting the way her gloved fingers were laced together, and fidgeting with nervous energy.

Liz's sleeves were strenuously tucked into the wrists of her gloves. It reminded Penny of the scars on Liz's hand, arm, and shoulder, and the lengths Liz would go to, to cover them. Penny held back a shudder at the memory. They were the remnants of a childhood illness, but for some reason they disturbed her. Liz always kept them covered. _Well almost, _Penny thought, her recollection of the armory filled her mind. _She must not have bothered this morning, probably thought only Freya would see her._ Freya seemed to be the only person who really didn't care about the scars.

Catching her train of thought, Penny focused on Liz again. _She's terrified,_ Penny thought, _I mean she normally gets scared before she leaves but this is different. _Penny crouched down to her level, looking her in the eyes, seeing a hollowness there that Penny had probably also worn as a fresh-faced recruit._ Probably her first time in real combat. _"Stay close behind me, no more than two meters, I will keep you safe," Penny was careful with her tone, keeping it gentle to reassure, but firm lest the instruction might be forgotten.

A small smile came to Liz's lips at the kind words, "And who is going to keep you safe?"

Penny looked down and hefted her gun, "This lovely lady right here. And if she fails, I have the best nurse in Kings at my back. What have I got to be worried about?"

Liz shook her head seeming to snap out of her daze for a moment. "Stop mothering me, and don't think I don't recognize your tone," Liz said standing. "let's go."

"Good." Penny hoped against hope the encouragement was not condescending, but she knew the proud woman better than most.

Exiting the car, Penny noted a couple snipers from alpha squad already setup in the windows, their gleaming barrels pointing into the great hole in the underground wall. The old station was unrecognizable from its pre-war state. The once gleaming white, curved station walls were now covered in dirt, grime and more disturbing remains. Several walls had been knocked down leaving great caves that, along with the leftovers of the underground, acted as a labyrinth. To almost all outsides this meant death from the mutants hauled up, just over half a mile from the train.

The commander was standing beside the door as they walked out, "Penny, I know you are newly back bu…"

"Sorry. It is my fault. She was helping me." Liz said interrupting Commander Walters, the glassy look back in her eyes, silencing everyone. The seconds seemed like hours under Walters glare. Liz looked around uncomfortably, until she seen Penny trying to hint at something silently, "Ugh, Sir, Sorry Sir," Liz stumbled out.

"Penny, leave the conscripts to me." Walters said, before turning to Liz, "we will deal with this later, Miss Taylor." It was almost comical seeing the Commander look up at Liz, while telling her off, she was over a foot taller than him.

"Sir, Yes Sir." Penny said falling in to position in beta squad, Liz close behind her. Walters did not seem to mind, and they started the march to Shuke. It was the longest of all their lives.

"Come closer," Penny whispered to Liz, and Liz did so. "Rule one, never interrupt your superior officer, Elizabeth, ever," Penny told her in a harsh whisper. "It does not end well."

"I am sorry, I did not know." She said, almost crying, "I have never been somewhere like this." Penny knew about her travels, and the hell holes Liz had seen there. But she had always been a nurse, a non-combatant, never under threat because no matter where she was, the winning side always had wounded, and there were never enough healers. But here, she was not a nurse. She was medic. A combatant. A target.

She had refused a gun, not that she had been offered one. The kick would have shattered the bones in here scared arm, after the bullet hit the soldier behind her. At least that was the perception of her, a lanky, clumsy, girl. She was swift and sure with a scalpel, or needle, but if she was asked to carry three apples without a basket, she would manage to drop four.

"I know, just do as I tell you and you will get through fine."

"Yes, Madam." Penny rolled her eyes at that but did not feel like correcting Liz's limited knowledge of the chain of command.

"Rule two," Penny continued in the harsh whisper, hating herself for talking to her friend like this, but knowing Liz needed it. "Stay close to me, and when the firing starts get down, the wounded will be brought to you."

"I understand," She responded, the tremor in her voice getting worse, "Madam."

"Rule three, if I tell you to do something, do it. No hesitation. If I tell you to jump, don't ask how high, just do it."

Liz nodded, quietly murmuring an affirmation. Penny turned on her, taking her left hand, and looking up into the girl's downcast eyes. "You trust me, right?" Penny asked.

Liz's hand shook in Penny's, "Of course I do."

That was as far as she got before Penny interrupted. "Good, then stay with me, and Freya will get you back as good as new."

As they walked through the cave, in near complete darkness, the group of soldiers became smaller as alpha squad members split off and took cover behind the random debris or a column holding up the celling.

Inevitably they reached The Long Run. The opening was just a big hole in the cave wall, like so many others the band had passed. But the tunnel was a straight, wide, and tall gash beneath the earth, over two hundred meters long, with no cover. And it was the only known entrance to this Ogre hive. If you charged it, there was no way to not get shot.

"This is bad" Penny whispered to Lance-Corpral Victor, as they went down the cavern. The walls of which were a sickly brown with specks of crimson. There were chain nets filled with the rancid remnants of previous attacks, hanging from the ceiling.

"What do you mean" came the reply, though it was not from the expected sauce.

Penny turned to see her commanding officer, standing next to Liz. "Sir, I, I..." stammered Penny, still reeling for the shock that he had heard her question his orders.

"Spit it out Sargent," came his gruff reply. "You may be one of our best, but that doesn't mean I won't have you cleaning the latrines for the next year. So, what is it?"

Now everyone was looking their way, "Respectively Sir," she managed as blood rushed to her cheeks. "You said we were here to barter with the Ogres, but I see no cargo, just the muscle." A collection of whispers dispersed through the crowed.

"I suppose you all deserve an answer" he said all the venom gone from his voice. "We are here to trade just not in cargo." He trailed off, more muttering to himself than communicating. "God help us all," was the last thing he said to them directly.

Penny clicked her safety off.

Upon seeing it for the first time Penny realized, Shuke was not like a castle, it was a castle. A high, thick, grey wall, topped with crenulations and dozens of thin shooting slits, ran the width of the tunnel. Behind that was a second higher wall. Dark as night and speckled with dots of radioactive waste, giving the appearance of green stars, reached the roof of the cavern.

A moat of stagnant water, now filled with the filth from the citadel, ran the length of the wall. The only cover from the rifles loops was in the moat, but even there wasn't safe. The wall bulged out as circular towers rose from it at regular intervals, allowing fire to be rained down on anyone seeking shelter against the stone.

The only way through was an opening, just large enough for two Ogres to walk side by side. And the gate was closed.

Approaching Shuke, the commander ordered, "weapons safe, and hold them at arms length by the barrel."

A second of silence passed, while no one moved. "Why?" The squad was tight together, so it was impossible to pick out the one that was questioning the commander. The voice had been deep, but it sounded like a Brotherhood accent, an accent that didn't exist in the guard.

"A show of good faith so we aren't just, shot out right." Said the irate commander, "and if you question it again, I will execute you myself."

Another moment of silence, the word mutiny must have passed through their collective thoughts. Penny took her rifle's barrel and held it out. She did not put it in safe. That broke the stalemate, and the rest followed her.

It felt strange, holding her rifle like this. At arm's length, with a death grip around the barrel, almost like strangling it. And that felt almost as bad as the thought of strangling Liz, especially after having been away from it for so long.

Penny shot a look at Liz, checking her own face didn't betray her vicious thought. Liz had a distant look in her eyes again.

Stopping ten meters short of the moat, the smell was foul even at that distance, Commander Waters announced, "We have come to bargain."

Their leader stopped the defenders from killing Walter's force outright and looked over his fortification. At this distance his head was small, bald, and green. More detail was impossible at this distance. "Open the gates and send them through The Rat Run." His voice sounded like dry twigs were snapping in his throat. "Pull all defenders out and lock the cage at the other end we don't want them to make a mess of Shuke." He did not bother to whisper. "I will converse with any that survives there."

"Will you let down the bridge at least?" The Commander asked respectfully.

"No," came a callous and cunning reply.

Penny glanced to her brothers in arms nervously, taking her rifle back into a proper grip. They all followed suit, wearing strange expressions, a confused mix of worry and disgust.

The Ogre leader was smart, unusual for the brutish creatures, but not unheard of. That scared Penny and her comrades more than the rest of the city and its defenses. Penny threw a reassuring smile back to Liz. She still wore a dazed look, though she was coming around, the realization of what was happing waking her up.

"We should have known." Grumbled Edd in a Scottish accent, that only happened when he was really scared. "Their attacks have been getting smarter for a while."

Stopping at the edge of the moat, the smell grew so bad it must have been intentional. The radioactive filth of the city had to have been siphoned off to here. _Probably to deter idiots like us,_ Penny thought as she shouldered her way to the front. _But that never stopped us before. _She placed one heavy boot into the green slime, submerging the toes. "Fuck it, keep moving." They all followed.

Edd, now up to his shins in filth, was shaking, "We are so unbelievably fucked. Why the fuck did we fucking come here. There is the only fucking way this could have ended." He continued like this as they trudged through the waist deep, wretched mass.

"Hey, calm down Edd, we'll be fine." Soothed Liz, from the bank nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Just rel..."

"How?! Explain that to me, you crazy bitch." Edd continued his stream of profanity and insults as the made there way through the filth. "This actual shit is up to my dick, I've probably got at least fucking five different fucking diseases I didn't ten fucking minutes ago."

Commander Walter walked up to the hysterical guard and hit him hard between the shoulder blades with the butt of his rifle. Edd fell into the loathsome waters, face first. He came up spluttering grime, face crimson with rage, he turned on the commander, ready to scream. The Commander simply told him, "Shut up, and soldier, soldier."

This did nothing to quell Edd's rage, So Walters punched him. A heavy right hook that landed Edd in the muck again. This time, Walters did not let him get up, and instead just grabbed the collar of his shirt and started to drag him through the filth.

During this confrontation, Penny climbed out the other side, her trousers and boots now glowing a patchy green. She turned back to the festering river, seeing most of the squad trudging through like professionals, Edd writhing against Walters as he dragged him, and Liz, still on the bank, not a toe had been in the water. "Liz, move, now!" She called across.

She quickly plastered a dazed look on her face, "Can't I wait here until you get them to lower the bridge?"

"Move now, Medic, or," Penny gestured to were Edd was dragged out and unceremoniously thrown face first into the mud of The Rat Run, still cursing.

Liz hesitantly stepped back, then another step, and again. _Don't,_ Penny thought. Liz stepped back again, throwing a look down the tunnel, _don't do it you stupid girl. Don't run!_

Liz looked back to Penny, then ran toward her, jumping at the last second. Throwing herself most of the way across the moat. Penny rushed to the edge, ready to go in again if it looked like Liz might fall. But, surprisingly, she caught herself, and remained upright. Her skirt had billowed out as her landed, trapping air inside it and keeping most of the fabric out of the moat. Given her significant height, the waters only came up to her mid-thigh, so she clambered through it easier than the rest. Only grabbing Penny's offered hand up the last of the bank.

"Anything more to say?" the commander asked Edd, after he had finally stopped swearing. "Good, the stop whining and get moving. The last thing we need is to start negations from a place of weakness which you are giving us handedly!"

The ogres started to chuckle. Penny shot them a glance, gave them the fingers, and decided it better to ignore them.

Looking down the Rat Run. If Shuke was a castle, The Rat Run was the gate house, able to be locked at each end, with walls filled with slits for archers or spearmen, and a roof filled with murder holes for hot oil. If they had not been invited in, there was no way through, other than shear weight of bodies. Penny steeped forward.

Edd continued to speak with his Scottish accent, "don't move, any further."

"Why?"

"It is mined. One wrong step, and some loses a leg." There was a shotgun shell a few centimeters in front of Edd, rigged to blow on a hair trigger.

_Fuck sake,_ Penny cursed to herself. _These builders were smart._

"Force the enemy to attack where you want and punish them for it." Liz said proudly, the dreamy dazed look returning, "This would have been the far side of impossible to assault had the defenders been active." This remark was just salting the wound for the squad.

"OK lights on and proceed with caution." Penny told them, carefully pulling Edd up.

"No lights" declared the Commander.

"Sir, no, we need at least 1 to see the traps, Sir" Orson said. He a large man, possessing the frame of a heavyweight boxer covered with the muscles of a bull, hiding what would normally be considered a long neck.

"Alright single file, Penny you are in front, get your light on and get us through this." The Commander allowed.

They carefully picked their way through traps, it was not just rigged shotgun shells, there were mines, bear traps, trip wires and more. Penny caught her foot on a thin wire, nearly pulling the chord loose, but she lowered he foot before it went off.

After a tedious fifteen minutes, they finally passed to the second gate. The gate sung open and the portcullis lifted open into the gap between the walls. It was just as booby-trapped as the first pass. The force of men looked left and right, seeing no clues as to which way would bring them into the castle proper, Commander Walter's called up, "Which one?"

The only response was a muffled chuckle.

Penny decided left was as good as right and went with her gut. They continued in the same slow manor, carefully picking their way through a minefield, constructed specifically to kill them all. This time was different though. There was a clear patch down the right wall, and after that the rest of the gap appeared to be clear.

Though gifts like this, were oft times poisoned, they made their way to the right, stepping carefully. Making it to the gap without incident. Their luck would never last.

Orson was third from the back of the line, and considered to be a stoic man, despite this, after misplacing his foot, a shrill scream erupted from him, as a shotgun charge tore through his right leg. His scream was cut short as the blood loss left him unconscious in seconds.

Liz stood frozen, panic already set in, before the reality of where she was seemed to dawn on her. Penny was running to Orson under the disapproving eye of Waters, _probably get a scolding for this, but he needs help._ Penny was kneeling next to Orson, raising his leg. Going for her knife to remove his trouser leg, she noticed, it was not necessary. Ribbons of flesh were all that connected his foot to his knee joint.

Penny was amazed at Liz's lack of awareness, "Liz!" her face shot up, still stunned, "Help!" Penny had her hands around the leg trying to staunch the blood, but it was no use, it still flowed forth.

"We always said he had a big heart," Liz whispered and, tittering to herself, getting the simple cloth tourniquet from her bag. Penny was sure nobody else heard so did no call her on it. Placing it around the leg, she was still moving slowly, as if immersed in water. Penny confiscated it from her, giving her the needle and tubing, while tightening the tourniquet.

"Get the vain in his arm and place it in the same direction as his pulse," _Get her moving, give her a job._ Penny kept turning the wooden bar, the blood stopped, placing it under her knee, she said "other end in here," tapping her neck, "against my pulse."

_This is why I am here, _Penny reminded herself, _the reason I am given a pass on motherhood for now. To be a fucking blood bag._ She thought jamming the needle into her arm.

"No give me your arm to much danger to risk it from the neck here." _Well, she is coming out of it slowly._ Normally Liz would have told Penny to stop listening to the Doc's theories on the body. This particular one being that blood directly from the heart is purer and becomes contaminated by the brain making a transfusion worse for the recipient.

"Fine, give it to me, and start stitching this up." She took the end out of Orson and inserted her own, watching the clear tube turn crimson, and placed it back in his arm.

As the blood moved from her to him, Penny heard a voice, 'Thank you,' a woman's voice, she knew she did, but Liz had not said anything. It seemed to come from inside Shuke, but that was impossible Ogres were genderless. Looking all around herself, she must have looked half crazy. Another dull buzzing assaulted her ears, nothing distinct came from it bet Penny knew it was bad.

The commander strode over, confident and secure. Penny saluted, not rising from the mud, "Sir, I would stand but," she gestured to her arm and the needle in it_, Good grief I'm pale._

"Sargent, why did you sprint next to a live mine field, while we are on mission?" He was unusually particular with his words, not that he was ever very good with them. After leaving Kings he would normally abandon such formalities, turning back to the word of a military leader once more.

"Well I couldn't just let him bleed out, Sir."

"And if you had of set off another explosive?"

Liz ignored them both, focusing all her attention on stitching what little she could, and bandaging the rest of the ruined stump of a leg.

"Then I am just another casualty, Sir." Penny said, a drop of cheek, added to her voice, as the buzzing in her ears continued.

"And if it had of set off a chain of explosions. What about your team?!"

Penny stumble over her words, looking for an answer, but finding none.

"You are becoming a loose cannon," he held up a hand as Penny went to speak. "I know you are newly back, but this started before you were put on medical leave. Running to Orson is just the newest example. The Brotherhood incident, and the Ghouls that caused Drashmarsh." Penny cringed at those words, the low buzz of screaming back in her ears, "not to mention the other myriad of concerning events around Kings, that all happened before your leave."

Penny looked down, colour on her cheeks, "Yes Sir, you are right, I will do better."

"Make sure you do," he said, walking to the front of the group.

Turning back to Liz, in almost a whisper, Penny asked, "how much more blood does he need."

Liz was falling back into her shocked stupor, her voice sounded even more quiet on shaking lips. "Why? Are you feeling lightheaded, at all?"

"No," _not that I would admit being so,_ Penny added in her mind.

"If you are not feeling lightheaded, then I would ask you to hold on a few minutes more."

"Fucking look at me, I could hide in snow pretty well."

Liz looked up from her work, looking Penny over. "All save your cheek."

Penny touched her cheek, it came away wet and red, "Fuck."

"Orson should have enough blood by now, just help me bandage this." Together they finished the bandaging. Penny holding the cloth as Liz tied it securely.

"Fuck it maybe the Doc is right." Penny said putting her head against the cold stone wall, pulling the needle out of her arm. "Maybe it is a curse."

"Do not dear fall into that mystical nonsense Penny, I will remind you he is crazier than his theories."

"You did." Penny said, almost sulking. "This morning."

"I know but, it is true that all he does is follow those bloody holy books. You know I once seen one that said to reverse Ghoulism. One only need to drain an amount of blood every day, replace it with a mixture of equivalent volume containing a pregnant woman's urine, the blood of a willing healthy person and a virgin's tears." Liz started to giggle to herself, "I suppose that would be the hardest thing to get hold of in this part of the world. Then simply wash in the previous days blood, and in a few weeks the necrotic tissue will peel off to revile the new healthy skin beneath."

"Well if you can't find me something in your books, I will have no choice." Penny had not meant it to come out with the venom that it had. "Sorry, you don't deserve that."

Liz was on her feet, "Do not worry about it, I understand you are frustrated. And with your regard to the doctors theories, just because I do not have the correct answer, does not mean I do not know a wrong one when it is presented." She put her hand down to Penny, a rare offer of physical help from the frail girl. Penny accepted.


End file.
